4-Buffalo to NYC the long way along the Erie Canal, up to Ottawa through Champlain and down the Hudson to NYC. (Numbers 3 and 4 may morph into a trip along the entire ICW for which I think the Mac is very well suited.)
A nice trip # 4 might be
Buffalo (actually I would recommend Lake Onario North, on lower side of Niagara Falls) to Ottawa over several days on Lake Ontario
You could do either US or Candian side
Up to Ottawa via Thousand Islands
Down through Lake Champlain and Canal
Pick up Hudson river at Albany onto NYC
You can take Jetblue or Amtrak and pick up your car in Buffalo easily
The Hudson is tidal south of Troy Lock - 130 miles North of NYC
Im still amazed at the number of people who are caught by this.
PM me when you set dates - I have sailing connections in Buffalo and Albany and can help set you up.
Thanks. Such a great offer and yet not at all uncommon amoungst this group.
But first I need to actually buy my Mac and truly I am planning #4 for 5 years from now. But dreams (at least mine) take planning and that is half the fun in my experience. I kinda have my heart set on the Erie canal. Would you advise against that? Too many locks and low bridges? I have the charts and a guide book for the entire trip but paper and words cannot
convey the real picture.
I'm really looking forward to the Columbia too. Lewis and Clark here I come!!
BBRaun - the Erie is a great way to spend a week. You can get off the boat in so many places and turn the trip into a NYC excursion if you get boat weary...
or
you can dive down to the Finger Lakes midway across the state, and sail 43 miles down gorges and forest views..stopping at local wineries along the way...
There are lots of free tieups with power and water to overnight.
I just got through taking mine from around Rochester to Burlington, VT via the Erie and Champlain canal. Fantastic trip !! Can't wait to do it again, although having done the canal already, I would just trailer it to, say , Burlington for as much time on Champlain as possible.
I singlehanded and as far as going thru the locks, I just used two boat poles and walked the boat up and down the recessed ladders in the locks. Worked great and is good upper body exercise............never used a line on my boat nor the lines/cables on the lock (too slimey and slippery!!!)
My favorite places south to north. DEFINTITELY but the "Cruising Guide To The New York Canal System" Great book with tons of easy to read detail.
1) Waterford: Stay at the free dock wall in Waterford . Good Irish Pub in downtown and a great dock wall facility. Nice walk along the old abandoned canal park as well.
2) Not much worth stopping for outside of curiosity until Whitehall., although Ft. Edward is OK.
3. I love Whitehall. Spend a little time here. OVernight at Lock 12 Marina (fee) and eat at their restaurant 'Finch and Chubb'. The place is run by an ex-Brit and his NYC wife and they are very helpful and friendly and it's where I put my mast back up for the trip to Champlain. They'll help you there too if you need it.. Neat little town
4.Now it's a lock-free trip thru the narrows to Lake Champlain. YOu start to see the mountains and the banks get much steeper and narrow....it's gorgeous. As it begins to widen just south of Ft Ticonderoga you come to a small private yacht club called Chipman Point Marina. VERY friendly folks there (if you can catch them in) and it's another popular place to put your mast up or down. I happened to arrive there by chance the night of their annual lobster fest and they invited me up for a night of food, revelry and dance. Great folks.
5. Once you get to LakeChamplain proper (Crown Point) the lake widens and there are great anchorages. They have only one or two transient slips I believe but the Basin Harbor Club was one of my favorite stops. They have a great restaurant there on the edge of an air field and the setting is beautiful. The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is here too and well worth the visit.
6. My favorite little towns to visit were:
a) Westport, NY, (old quaint town....marine store...restaurants
b) Vergennes, VT (you travel 6 miles upriver and moor free at the city dock at the base of a fantastic waterfall and the restaurants and shops in town are great too.....Black Sheep Bistro was my favorite)
c) Essex, NY ...similar to Westport
d) but my FAVORITE stopover was Burlington, VT. My new favorite city in the US, I think. Great transient dockage in the center of town at the "Community Boathouse". You walk up the hill and there are as good as restaurants per acre as New York City. and everyone sits outside in the pedestrian streetscape and talks animatedly about all the forbidden topics (politics, religion and sex). Afterall there are two univerisitities within walking distance here too. A great microbrewery and unusual shops. I just fell in love with this city.
e) that's all the farther north I got so I didn't make it to Plattsburgh, NY etc. but had great day sails back and forth across the lake.
